Refrigerator



Oct. 11, 1927 1,644,987

1.. G. COPEMAN o g Filed June 18, 1925 V 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Oct. 11, 1927. 1,644,987

L. G. COPEMAN REFRIGERATOR Original Filed June 18, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 2e INVENTOR.

24; M ATTORNEY.

Get. 11 1927.

L. G. COPEMAN REFRIGERATOR Original Filed June 18, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 3'i'il CULU 7 6/236 .7 .g I; Z 1

A TTORNE Y.

- INVENTOR. v Z/qya Q 60/19/7700 ATTOIIVQIYEY.

Oct. 11,1927.

Patented Oct. 11 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LLOYD G. COPEMAN, OF FLINT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO COPEMAN LABORATORIESCOMPANY, OF FLINT. MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

REFRIGERATOR.

Application filed .Tune 18, 1925, Serial No. 37,971. Renewed July 14,1927.

This invention relates to refrigerators or cabinets. and has for itsobject a construction of an insulated refrigerator or cabinet which isrelatively light in weight and has all the advantages of stone surfaces.

In my Patent No. 1,538.l69, issued May 19, 1925, I have described andclaimed a double shell stone refrigerator. This makes a very eificientand beautiful piece of furniture, but it has the disadvantage of-beingrelatively heavy and rather easy fractured in transit. Furthermore, thistype of refrigerator can only be made by casting operations and theserequire considerable time in setting and involve a large investment inmoulds where production assumes any proportions. It is the object of thepresent invention to provide a design of refrigerator or cabinet whichis relatively light but has relatively great strength to withstand roughhandling and yet it is finished in stone inside and out, and all thejoints'are hermetically and forever sealed by stone. This sealing of thejoints is, however, a very great improvement over the ordinary wooden orpainted and varnished refrigerator, as such a refrigerator inevitablybreaks down by moisture getting into the joints and causing swelling orthe wood drying out and the joints pulling apart by shrinkage. In myrefrigerator, the joints are entirely elimi-.

natecl, obviating not only the self-destruction of the box in time butof avoiding the unsanitary condition which always attends open joints.

The box is preferably a white stone inside and out without any metalframework, as is necessary with the ordinary porcelain refrigerator inwhich porcelain is used on the outside. Furthermore. the refrigeratormay be made in colors by introducing any suitable coloring material orpigment into the stone mix. Another advantage in this refrigerator isits economical construction, for in large production it is cheaper toconstruct a refrigerator such as I am about to describe than tomanufacture the ordinary wood finished box. for the wood work in myrefrigerator is comparatively a rough box or cratelike job which can beput together by rough carpentry, whereas the ordinary wooden box is moreor less a cabinetmakers job.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the completed refrigerator, but withoutthe doors in p ace.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the complet'ed wooden set up or core.

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the outer core of wood.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the inner core of wood.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal cross section of the moulds before the casting ispoured.

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the casting poured, the insulatingmaterial in place and the back nailed on.

Fig. 7 is a perspective View of a modified form of outer corerefrigerator.

'Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the refrigerator front.

Preferably I form an inner wooden box or crate a, this can be made wood.and is preferably California redwood. This crate is divided off into theice chamber 6 and the provision chamber 0, but of course may bedivided'in any other way. The side walls extend beyond the top andbottom walls to form tracks d and eadapted to ride in the grooves f andg respectively to the outer box which is designated k. I

The inner shell is slipped into the oute shell, preferably from thefront, although it may be slipped in from the back, where an outer casesuch as shown in Fig. 7 "is used, having grooves which extend entirelythrough from the front to the back. The wooden front frame shown in Fig.8 and designated j is then nailed to the two wooden boxes and thiscompletes the wooden inner set up. This entire wooden set up may then beinserted in suitable moulding dies, as shown in Fig. 5. These comprisethe moulds k and the cores m. Obviously the cores for the passageways(these are not shown) will have to be withdrawable into. the other coremembers or separable therefrom to permit the withdrawal of the is set.

The stone is preferably what is known as oxy-chloride, being a stone mixmade u of preferably 20% magnesium oxide by weight, 30% of finely groundsilica by weight, and 50% of 50 mesh silica sand by weight. To

out of rough cores after the stone this dry mix is added sulficientmagnesium chloride in solution at 26 Baum density to form a mix thatwill easily pour. I find this a very suitable casting mix. This methodof making a refrigerator or cabinet is in its general aspects describedand claimed in my application. filed January 31, 1925, No. 6 023.

However, in the aforesaid application, the final product is not claimedand this final product may be made in several ways, as for instance, thestone coated wooden core shells may be separately cast or manufacturedand preferably the inside shell will have a coating moulded in, whilethe outside shell will dipped in a suitable mixture.

have to be sprayed. The boxes may be even I have found that for sprayingit is preferable to use a mixture that is more adapted for .the spraying gun. I have found, for instance, that a mixture of 25% by weight ofmagnesium oxide, 50% of ground silica and 25% of lithopone mixed with asolution of magnesium chloride at 26 Baum density to produce arelatively thin mixture that can be handled in a spraying nozzle willwork admirably.

I have discovered that this plastic material has most unusualcooperation with the wood-something that does not happen with ordinaryenamels, paints, or lacquers. This mix has a considerable magnesiumchloride and any of the saline compositions or materials, such as commonsalt, (sodium chloride) and calcium chloride have a great afiinity formoisture. I find that the mag nesium chloride soaks into the wood andtends to keep it moist. This prevents any shrinking and on the otherhand makes the joints swell and fit tightly together. There is notendency for them ever to draw apart and break the'stone coating, as iscommon with an ordinary varnishedbox. This action, l take it, is due, tothe use of magnesium chloride and I customarily brush magnesium chloridesolution onto the box first before I spray it, and this may also be doneeither in thedipping or castlng process. This insures the magnesiumchloride with its afiinity' for moisture soaking into the wood where itremains permanently in the same way that calcium chloride will keep thedust down permanently on a road where ithas been strewn.

Another thing that I find useful in this type of box over a vsolid stonerefri erator is that the wood coremakes a suita le anchoring medium forthe usual hardware hinges and locks that have to be secured to the frontof the refrigerator. In my prior stone casings I was obliged to usespecial bushings for this purpose.

With the present construction, suitable places may be left by contactingof the mould parts with the wooden core or by removal of spots of thematerial if spraying or dipping is used. Preferably too, it is desirableto leave the wood exposed along the heavy line designated n in Figs. 1and 6. This may be accomplished by lips on the dies for contacting withthe wooden core and preventing the thin coat from setting over the coreat the door openings. I This breaks the continuity of the compositionstone outside and in, and consequently arrests the heat conductivity ofthe stone coating and prevents undesirable. abstraction'of heat from theexterior.

The space between the outer wooden shell and the inner wooden box isfilled with an insulating material which is designated a which may be,for instance, ground cork and pitch. Preferably a metal back plate isnailed to the wooden strips 8 which are eld in the pitch and is alsonailed to the rejecting portion of the wooden outer ox, the back platebeing provided with turned up fianges't for this purpose.

Preferably I coat the outside and inside with'some form of pyroxylinenamel, such as Dues a well known preparation made by E. I. Du Pont DeNemours Co. of Wilmington, Del.

What I claim is:

1. A refrigerator or cabinet, comprisinga box-like core of fibrousmaterial encased on the outside and inside by artificial stone coating,there being an omission of the coating and.an exposure of the woodencore at a point where the inner coat and the outer coat would otherwisemeet. Y

2. A refrigerator or cabinet, comprising a unit double box structureforming a core of fibrous material and a plastically applied.

artificial stone coating encasing both the'in side and the outside ofthe said structure,-the space between the two box-like walls of the corebeing packed with insulating material. 3. A refrigerator or cabinet,comprising a wooden outer box, a wooden inner box provided' withprojecting sides adapted to support the inner box and the outer box inspaced relation, and .plastioally applied artificial stoneworkenveloping the outside of the outer box and the inside of the inner boxas a unit.

4. A refrigerator or cabinet, comprising a wooden outer box, a woodeninner box spaced 'froni theouter box, and held in assembled relationtherewith by means of grooves, and

a stone coating on the exposed surfaceof one of the wooden-boxes.

wooden outer box,

spaced from the outer box, 10

5. A refrigerator or cabinet, com ri a wooden outer box, a wooden iniler i gox spaced from the outer box, and two .stone coatings formed byasin 1e casting operation on the exposed surfe mces of the two boxes. &

6. A refrigerator or cabinet, comprising a a wooden inner box and theexposed surfaces of the two boxes being coated with stone and the spacebetween the two boxes suitably insulated, the continuity of said stonecoating being broken at certain points to arrest the heatconductedthereof.

7. A refrigerator or cabinet, an outer box and an inner box, one of saidboxes provided with grooves and the other with tracks arranged to ridein said grooves to space the two boxes with respect to each other, and aplastically applied. stone coating on the exposed surface of one of saidbox provide comprisingv to arrest the heat of conductivity signature.

boxes, and the space between the two boxes being packed with insulatingmaterial. 8. A refrigerator or cabinet, comprising an outerbox rovidedwith grooves','an inner d with tracks arranged to ride in said groovesto properly position the inner box within the outer box in spacedrelation therewith and, a plastically applied stone coating on theexposed surface of one of saidboxes. p

9. A refrigerator, or cabinet, comprising a unit core formed of a doublebox structure of fibrous material, and plastically'applied artificialstone coatin encasing both the inside and outside of said unit core, thecontinuity of said stone coating be' broken tween said inside andoutside coatings.

In testimony LLOYD e. COPEMAN.

whereof I have afiixed my 40

